Ep 52 Medical Malpractice with Dr. Stacia Dearmin

CONTRIBUTORS: HONEYZEL ONTOLAN AND DR. EMRAN OF SIMPLE HEALTH RADIO

On today’s episode of the Simple Health Radio Podcast, Dr. Emran is joined by Stacia Dearmin, MD, the founder of Thrive. She is an expert in medical malpractice and a Pediatric Emergency Medicine specialist.

Dr. Dearmin talks about why doctors get involved in lawsuits. According to her, it happens when there are miscommunications and misunderstandings between the doctors, patients, and family of the patients.

It often occurs when the family of a patient may not agree with the outcome of treatment and someone is looking for some type of remedy for what happened. It may not always be a life-threatening situation that leads to a lawsuit. Interestingly, many patients and their family don’t simply want the money from a lawsuit. Often, they just want answers about what happened and why.

Surgeons are more likely to be named in lawsuits. Psychiatrists, pediatricians, pathologists and family doctors are less likely to be sued.

Lawsuits are extremely time-consuming, tedious, and financial burdens to everyone involved including the patient, family, doctor, hospital, and staff. Once the lawsuit is filed, it takes an average of 2 years to resolve which causes enormous stress to both parties. It also affects the behavior of physicians regarding how they approach patients in the future.

Court cases cause post-traumatic stress and are a common reason for early retirement of some physicians.

Dr. Dearmin gives advice to both parties: The doctors who are getting involved in lawsuits should not lose hope, but rather they seek a spiritual advisor. Find a person who can listen, be trusted to protect your conversation, and help you to move forward. This could be a lawyer, your own physician, spouse, close family member, pastor, priest, rabbi, or a psychologist. The goal is to have a protected and structured way to openly discuss all the negative emotions.

Finally, the general public, patients, and family should seek opportunities to connect with doctors, nurses, and healers in a positive way whenever possible. This can help to avoid misunderstandings.

If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately. Dr. Emran and Simple Health Radio do not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, consults, or any other information that may be mentioned on this website or radio podcast.